


Mercy

by TwoPisces



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-15
Updated: 2012-12-15
Packaged: 2017-11-21 04:13:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/593322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoPisces/pseuds/TwoPisces
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Well, you're certainly not from around here." “Speaking of here, would you mind telling me where here is, exactly?” “Well, we are approximately a hundred miles, in any direction, from civilization. This place is called Mercy and I’m guessing you didn’t stop here on purpose since no one ever does. Especially if they look half as good as you.” Modern day AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mercy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ameiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ameiko/gifts).



> Special thanks to my wonderful beta Shelby (the-magnificently-angry-beaver) for all her hard work. :)

Katniss was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in the middle of New Mexico, when her car finally gave up the ghost and sputtered to a halt. Her air had gone warm about an hour ago and the smoke that was now pouring out of her hood had started shortly after. She pulled off the road, coming to a stop near a grouping of cacti and rocks, and shoved the car into park. Her fingers pressed against her temples before sliding into her hair and tugging on it in frustration. She grabbed her phone out of the cup holder and unhooked her AUX cord, pressing the home button and whining when she saw the “No Service” where there should be bars. 

“Well, that's just fucking great.”

She tried to remember the last sign she had seen, warning of the lack of services and gas stations for a staggering number of miles quite a while ago. She thought it had said something over two-fifty. She glanced down at her phone again and let out a huff, reaching back into the cooler behind her seat and grabbing two bottles of water, tossing them in her bag. She shoved her door open and took pleasure in slamming it hard enough to rattle the windows. She looked down the highway and could just make out what looked like a turn off into another part of the rocky terrain. Settling her bag over her shoulder and cracking one of the water bottles, she took a sip and started walking, her flip flops catching grains of sand as she walked. 

As she made her way down the highway she started catching glimpses of wildlife, mentally working through her knowledge of each. She had been trying to fill her brain with every bit of information she could about this area and its animals in preparation for her new job. She was fortunate to find such a well-paying job so soon after graduating and getting her licensing for veterinary medicine and she was determined to prove herself worthy. Dr. Abernathy, head of the Southwestern Wildlife Conservatory, had given her a month to move from her home in rural Tennessee to their facility just outside of Tucson. Her sister had flown ahead to meet the movers while she drove her car and the few possessions she had that she didn’t trust to strangers who were getting paid minimum wage. 

After twenty minutes she came up to the edge of a tiny town, down a bit from the highway where the turnoff had led her. She didn’t even know if she could call it a town really given that it had all of one stop sign, a tiny market on one corner, a gas station with a garage attached on another corner and a few houses spread out in the small valley. She’d be surprised if more than fifty people lived here. She shoved the empty water bottle into her bag and swiped the back of her hand across her brow to wipe away the sweat that had gathered there. It was easily over a hundred degrees and the short walk had left her overheated, with her bra damp under her breasts and her tank top sticking uncomfortably to her back. She would kill for a shower. She headed toward the service station, sighing a breath of relief as the cool air hit her damp skin as she opened the door. She pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head and glanced around, not seeing an attendant. 

“Hello?”

She heard a muttered curse as something metal clanged to the ground and could just make out a hard rock song playing in the back area. She heard a quick, loud bark before the familiar clinking of dog nails on tile came from the hallway behind the desk a computer sat on. She tilted her weight forward onto her toes and peeked over the edge as a full-size chocolate lab rounded the corner. His brow creased before he barked again, racing around the corner and rubbing against her knees, his front paws coming off the ground in his eagerness. She heard the thud of footsteps as someone came down the corridor that wrapped around the corner behind the cash register and backed up a step, the dog following her. She kept running her hands over the dog’s ears but then felt her mouth go dry as a man strode around the corner. Sun-bleached white and gold hair was messily pushed away from his face, his skin a warm ivory but still much lighter than her own olive complexion. He was average height but well-muscled and much taller than her, his shoulders broad while his waist and hips were narrow. But what struck her the most, what really made her stomach clench and her fingers tighten against the soft brown fur in her hands were his vibrant, cornflower blue eyes. She watched as the corners crinkled as he smiled at her and the dog, wiping his oil- and grease-stained hands on a cloth from his pocket. She felt his eyes rake over her from head to toe, taking in her dark green tank top, her cutoff jean shorts, and her brown leather flip flops. She had braided her hair to the side this morning to keep it off her neck but her walk had teased a few strands loose around her face.

"Well, you're certainly not from around here."

His voice was gravelly from disuse and it sent shivers down her back. “Speaking of here, would you mind telling me where here is, exactly?”

His eyebrows went up slightly and his lips curved up into a smile. 

“Well, we are approximately a hundred miles, in any direction, from civilization. This place is called Mercy and I’m guessing you didn’t stop here on purpose since no one ever does. Especially if they look half as good as you.”

Heat curled up into her cheeks as the dog at her feet pressed his cold nose into her thigh, startling her.

“This is your dog?” He nodded. “What’s his name?”

“Radiator. Obvious, but I found him as a puppy, curled up in a car I worked on a few years ago, between the radiator and the engine, and it seemed fitting.” He gave a short whistle and patted his leg; the dog turned his gaze from Katniss. “Radiator, come here.”

She watched the dog give the man a bored look before bumping his head against her thigh again and whining. She scratched his ears more vigorously and looked up. The man had a strange look on his face, his eyes trained on the dog before coming up to meet hers. 

“He, uh, he always comes to me. He must like you.”

"Ironic, considering I'm a vet."

The utter astonishment on his face that his loyal friend would so easily give up on him for a vet makes her laugh. “So, since I know this handsome boy’s name, I guess I should know yours too. Especially since I suspect you’re the one I’m going to need to fix my car.”

“Oh, uh, Peeta, Peeta Mellark. Sorry, I’m just used to everyone knowing my name. There’s only about thirty people that live here.”

“Peeta...bread? And thirty? That’s it?”

He chuckles as he walks back to the counter, pulling open a drawer and grabbing a set of keys. “Yes, like the bread. With only thirty or so people here, we all have multiple jobs. I come from a family of bakers so I make bread and pastries for the market to sell in addition to running this place. Come on and we’ll figure out what’s wrong with your car.”

She made small talk with him as he led her to a tow truck parked behind the garage and they drove to her car. Her eyes kept drifting to the bulge of the muscles on his arms, the stretch of denim on his legs and the roughness of his hands on the steering wheel. He told her that his parents had owned a bakery in Roswell but that he and his older brothers had spent every free minute they had working on old cars. He finished a business degree fully intending on going back to help his parents and eventually take over the bakery but he’d decided one day that it wasn’t what he wanted. He emptied his savings and, literally, picked a city at random. He threw a dart at a map and it landed on an unmarked area in New Mexico. He used Google Maps and found Mercy. She told him about her parents: about her mom working at a hospital in Tennessee as a nurse and her father who, before he had died, worked as a blacksmith making ornate guards for fireplaces that people paid an arm and a leg for. She told him how her love of hunting and animals had led her to becoming a vet and the job she had been driving across the country for.

“So your sister is at your new place waiting for you?” He had the hood of her car up and had been checking different things for a few minutes.

“Well, yes but she had planned on being there anyways. She was going to spend a week with me to celebrate my birthday on Sunday and visit one of her roommates from undergrad that ended up out here. Then I’d have a couple weeks to get the feel of Tucson before I start work.”

His head popped up as he met her eyes. “Your birthday is Sunday?”

“Yeah...why?”

He stood straight and grabbed the rag from his pocket, wiping his hands as he snapped her hood shut again and turned to face her. “Well, because you might be here until then unless you want to drive a few hours to get to an airport. Your radiator is toast and in the process of it coming to its untimely death, it took out a few lines. Your engine might be pretty fucked up too but I can’t check until we tow it back. Pardon my French.”

“It’s fine. So...you have to order parts. Because you live in a town of thirty people.”

“Yup.” He popped the P at the end of the word and her eyes focused on his lips. Full for a man but surrounded with a day or so worth of stubble. She felt her nipples harden against the soft lace of her bra and prayed that he couldn’t tell, a damp heat building between her thighs. This is what she got for not taking Gale up on his multiple offers for a casual thing after their official relationship had ended two years ago. She was a sensual person, someone who loved days spent in bed exploring her lover's body. Two years of nothing but her own hands and imagination had been torture, especially with the stress involved with being in veterinary school. Her eyes are still stuck on his lips when she realizes they’re moving.

“I’m sorry, what?”

He smirks at her, and runs his tongue over his bottom lip, making her fingers dig into her thigh through her pocket. "I said, we don't really have a hotel here, but my house is big enough that you can have your own space. We only get deliveries once a week, on Mondays, and since today is Wednesday, you're going to be here until at least Monday."

“Of course there’s no hotel.”

She watched the smirk leave his mouth as his lips flattened into a straight line, his cheeks taking on more color. “I...I don’t mean to assume, I’m sure you could stay with Finnick and Annie maybe. Or Johanna, but she’s a bit of a handful if you don’t know her.”

She pinches her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger, looking at him and his eyes cast down at the rag that he’s scrubbing his hands with. She can tell he’s embarrassed, or at the very least annoyed at himself for suggesting that she stay with him, but he is the only person she’s met here. And she’s taken self-defense with Prim and her friend Rue enough that she could defend herself if she had to. But looking at his downturned face, the hair he keeps pushing back falling forward again as he scratches at a line of grease by his nail, she has a gut feeling that he would be good to her. And she trusted her gut enough to know that it usually kept her out of trouble.

“Well, I don’t know them at all. Here, I’ve spent at least an hour with you, know where you’re from and how your dog got his name. That’s gotta count for something, right?”

His eyes lifted up to hers and her friendly smile spread to him. His rag went into his back pocket as he pulled his keys out. “Well then, let’s get your car back to town so I can get you settled in.”

Her eyes trailed down his back, his plain t-shirt clinging in the heat and outlining the muscles underneath. She watched as he reached in to start the engine of the truck and caught the strip of golden skin and the black band of his boxers or boxer briefs where his shirt rode up. The heat was back between her thighs and she shifted, wondering how stupid it would be to hook up with a random guy in the middle of nowhere. It could be her reward for finishing vet school and getting this job. Really, she deserved to treat herself for all her hard work and it could be fun. No strings, just easy, carefree sex. She watched as he pulled back and caught her staring at him, his eyes tracing over her face, breasts, hips, and legs again as a smile edged up the corners of his mouth.

Oh, this could be very fun indeed.

-/-/-/-/-

She couldn't do this. He was just too...nice. She had caught his eyes raking over her body more than once already as he showed her through the house, but he wasn't being aggressive. His hand would land on her lower back as he guided her around a corner or their arms would brush as he raised his hand to point something out, but otherwise he made her feel comfortable. He had hauled the two bags from her car up the well-worn wood of his stairs, pushing open a door two down from where he told her his room was. The room was a soft yellow with rich navy accents, neutral but warm. There was a bed with a large headboard made from a light maple that scrolled down to a slightly smaller footboard, a matching dresser and desk and two large windows that looked out over the other houses. Most of the houses here were the same style as his, two stories with large windows on all sides and porches that wrapped all the way around. She slid her hand along the elegant scrolling on the footboard of the bed, before realizing something.

“This is hand-carved.”

“Yeah, all the furniture except for maybe one or two things was done by Johanna. Her dad taught her all about woodworking when she was younger. They moved here when she was a teen but when he got offered a job in California, she stayed. She’s made furniture for pretty much everyone here.” 

“It’s beautiful. It...it reminds me of my father’s work.”

At his silence, she looked up and caught him staring at her. He noticed and quickly shoved her bags by the dresser, stepping toward the door.

“I need to find out what all I need to fix your car and order it before my dealer closes. There’s towels in the closet at the end of the hall and your bathroom is through the walk-in closet. There’s WiFi in the house so you can use your laptop and a phone downstairs in the kitchen. And the TV.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She can’t help the laugh in her words. She’s twenty-eight and should be able to entertain herself for a few hours at this point in her life.

“Okay. I'll write the number to the garage by the phone...cell phones are useless around here. As I'm sure you've learned."

She smiled and waved her non-working phone at him as he headed back downstairs. She listened to his footsteps and the soft click of the door before flopping down on the bed. She searched for the WiFi on her phone and connected, then immediately went to FaceTime and touched Prim's name. She crossed her legs and swung her foot back and forth until it connected, the image blurring until her sister’s blonde hair and blue eyes came into focus.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting to hear from you yet. Where are you at now?"

"Um... somewhere not even on the map, actually. And I'm going to be here until next week."

Prim's face scrunched in confusion and Katniss explained about her car and Peeta. The frown quickly left her sister's face until she was practically bouncing in excitement. 

"Go ahead, Prim, get out whatever you want to say."

“You like this Peeta guy!”

She pulled herself upright on the bed and folded a leg under her. “What?”

“Oh, don’t ‘what’ me. I can tell that you like him.”

“Well...yeah, he’s attractive and nice. Prim, I’ve known him all of,” she turns to look at the clock, “five hours. I like him in a basic sense.”

Prim huffs and tosses her loose blond hair over her shoulder. At twenty-four, her sister is all golden blonde hair, blue eyes and soon, a doctor. She couldn’t find the words to really express how proud she was of her sister. She had graduated high school a year early and entered the University of Tennessee as a molecular biology major before graduating and being accepted at Harvard. Their mom constantly stood in amazement that she had not one, but two doctors for children.

“Katniss... it could be fun. You haven’t been with anyone since Gale.”

“Trust me, I know. But he’s just... I don’t know. He’s nice. Like, if I had met him in Tucson, I would go out with him if he asked.”

“So, why isn’t that an option now?”

She pulled her lip between her thumb and pointer finger. Prim’s shriek caused her to drop her phone on the bed, bouncing once before landing face down. She reached for it and saw a blur of blonde hair and the pink shirt her sister had on.

“What in the hell, Prim?”

“You did your lip thing! You do that when you're thinking about something you really want. Don’t deny it—you’ve done it for years.”

“Alright Prim, I’m going now.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave you alone. I’m going to call Rory and see if he wants to fly in and hang out. All of your stuff is here and I unpacked a bunch of it.”

“How’s Rory been?”

“Well... I may have seen some engagement rings in his browser history...”

Katniss shrieked on her own as Prim told her about the rings she had found.

-/-/-/-/-

She was sitting on the living room couch, her laptop perched on her lap and Radiator curled up next to her when Peeta came in the door at six. He handed her a printout of all the parts he’d needed to order and a promise of dinner as he headed upstairs to shower. She looked over the list as the water ran through the pipes and sighed at the total, her fingers running through the dog’s fur. A little over a thousand. She looked through the list again but didn’t see anything for labor. She was looking through it for a second time when she heard the soft creak of the wood floor under his feet.

“I know it’s a lot but that’s the cheapest I could get everything. Between your radiator, all the hoses that are cracked and the damage to an oil line, it’s a lot of parts.”

She pushed her laptop to the side and stood, Radiator whining at the loss of her warmth. “There’s no labor on here.”

He raised an eyebrow at her before heading into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator. She took in how he looked now, his wet hair dark from his shower, a plain black t-shirt stretched over his shoulders and tan cargo shorts. His hands were pink from the scrubbing it must have taken to get the oil smudges off of them.

“Nope, there isn’t. Would steak fajitas be okay, or are you vegetarian?”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she found her words. “Do you know how much labor will be? I want to figure out what card to put it on.”

He held out a package of steak and she nodded before he started pulling out onion, peppers, cilantro, and tomatoes. “That’s going to be the total. No labor.”

“But, Peeta-”

He stopped pulling spice bottles out of the cabinet and turned to look at her. “Consider it a birthday gift. Now, grab the container of rice out of the pantry over there so you can help me or I might change my mind.”

He smiled at her and she shut her mouth. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to let her argue about it so she went to the pantry and took in the massive stockpile of every type of grain, flour, sugar, and canned good she could imagine.

“Jesus, it’s like you have your own grocery store in here.”

“Yeah, well...when you only get deliveries once a week, you learn to keep everything in bulk. And I like to cook.”

They went about making dinner together, working alongside each other to cut the veggies, making Spanish rice, grilling the steak, onions, peppers and tortillas. He made her feel comfortable, like they hadn’t just met. They both liked living outside of a city, both hated winter weather, and both loved cheesy romantic comedies. After they had finished their dinner, Peeta pulled cinnamon rolls out of the oven that he had thrown in earlier, slathering icing on them and sliding them onto plates. They were curled up on the couch, only about a foot of space between them and Radiator curled between their feet, their fingers sticky from the gooey cinnamon dough and icing when he grew quiet.

“What?”

He blew out a breath. “This is weird, isn’t it? I mean... of all the places you could break down, it was here. And you’re someone that even if I had met you back in Roswell or Tennessee or Tuscon, I would have liked you. But, we meet here, where I’ve known the same people for almost five years, never meeting someone new. It’s just... interesting to think about.”

She murmured an agreement, watching his finger swipe the bits of icing left on his plate into his mouth. Prim’s words came back to her and she pinched her lip again.

“I... I would have gone out with you. If I had met you in Tucson or Tennessee.”

He turned to look at her and she met his eyes, her lips curling up slightly. A smile more brilliant than she had ever imagined took over his face before he stood, turning to go to the kitchen as he said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

-/-/-/-/-

Their days became routine after the first night. Peeta would rise at the crack of dawn to bake every other day, dropping off most of it to the small market and leaving her a few things to snack on during the day. He’d discovered on Thursday that she loved cheese buns, so he made them every day for her. After he introduced her to some of the other people who lived in Mercy, he would drop her off at the house with Radiator (who refused to leave her side) and work in the garage until three or four, drop his boots at the door, shower, and they would make dinner together. She learned that his oldest brother was a football coach in Roswell and his middle brother an accountant for the Department of Defense. She told him about Prim and on Friday they Skyped with her on his laptop. She noticed that after her comment to him on Wednesday night, he started doing things. He pulled out her chair for her when they ate. He brushed her shoulder with his hand as he went up to bed. She knew he was up to something when he asked what her favorite meal was on Friday and came home with a small package wrapped in butcher paper that night.

On Saturday, they joined Finnick and a very pregnant Annie for dinner. Finnick and Annie had met in college but drifted apart until she had wandered into the metalsmithing shop Finnick had owned in New Orleans. Annie’s grandparents had lived in Mercy and when they passed, she inherited their home. Annie was a holistic doctor and Finnick did metal work and fishing at a small lake nearby. Katniss liked them immediately, with Annie's wide smile and tinkling laughter and Finnick's playful flirting. She caught Peeta laughing and joking with Finnick, their deep friendship obvious.

After a bottle and a half of wine and Annie's persistent yawns, she and Peeta started back toward his house, the wine letting heat coil low in her stomach as his hand found her lower back, his fingers sitting just above the curve of her ass as they walked. She wasn't drunk, but certainly more than tipsy and her eyes trailed up to the immense amount of stars that were visible out here. She climbed the few steps of his front porch and slid onto the bench swing near the large windows of his kitchen. He sat beside her, using his foot to push them slowly as her head fell back, her eyes still on the sky.

"I forgot how many stars you can see out of the city. I used to look at them with my dad and sister before he died."

She felt Peeta's gaze flit over to her but kept her eyes on the sky. The roughness of his calloused hand caused shivers to race up her arms as he slid his hand over hers on her thigh, their fingers weaving together. His large hand engulfed her smaller one, his thick, blunt fingers making her long, narrow ones look like they could break in his grasp.

"You won't see this in Tucson. Too much ambient light for a few hundred miles out."

It was a simple thing, said in his rough voice from the wine and late hour, but it made the seed of doubt that had been growing inside her almost choke the breath from her. She'd been so sure, so focused on how lucky she was to get this job, how hard school had been and how prestigious this position could be that she never took the time to think about if she really wanted it. She loved the thrill of new research, of discovering traits and patterns of animals she had never seen before. She loved caring for them and helping them when they couldn't help themselves. But since she'd been here, so removed from where she's been the last six years, she'd started to doubt. She started to miss what she had been raised on, what had led her to her career in the first place. The open space, the landscape, the animals... the stars. She let her head roll to the side to look at Peeta, his head resting against the back of the swing, the stars reflected in his eyes.

"Do you ever miss home?"

"No." His answer was quick and without a trace of sadness. She pulled her legs up and curled them under her to face him. "This is home now. At first, it was hard to accept that I put four years into a degree that I thought I wanted and it was just going to waste but... this makes me happy. Although it’s been more interesting since you showed up."

He turned to smile at her and their eyes met. The heat that had been building in her all night ignited, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips and his eyes shot down to follow it. It's an instant, a fraction of a second spark and then his hand was sliding into her braided hair, pulling her to him as their lips crashed together. His slightly chapped lips pressed and nipped at hers, his fingers pulling at her hair until the braid came undone, the waves framing her face. The wine running through her body made her bold enough to swing her leg over his hips until she was sitting on his lap, her mouth opening to his and their tongues sliding together, tasting the chocolate cake and coffee they'd had for dessert. His hands slid up her back, pressing her against him and pulling a moan from her as her hardened nipples brushed against his chest. He pressed his arousal up against her center before pulling his lips away, his breath puffing against her wet lips.

"Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks. Keep kissing me."

He grinned and nipped her bottom lip again, her fingers diving into his hair as she added "fantastic kisser" to the list of qualities this man seemed to possess.

-/-/-/-/-

She wasn’t sure how she was going to leave. She was wiping up the last remnants of tomato sauce from her plate with a piece of garlic bread and watching Peeta put away leftovers from her place at the table and she really, really couldn't imagine getting in her car on Tuesday and just...leaving. After their little make out session on the front porch, he had pushed her into her room and wished her good night. She'd woken up to a bottle of water and two Excedrin on the nightstand and the smell of something amazing baking downstairs. Peeta had planned the entire day for her, making cheese Danishes for her (her favorite, she had told him on Thursday) for breakfast, packing a lunch of salty, garlicky breadsticks and rich, garlic goat cheese dip with grapes and oranges for a hike through the wildlife-heavy canyon and now, chicken parmesan with his homemade garlic bread.

Then there had been the kissing. And the touching. Oh, the kissing and touching. It was as if the kisses they'd exchanged last night had broken a dam, letting all of the pent-up sexual tension loose. Her eyes trailed over his arms, the ones that had hoisted her up onto the back of his Jeep in the canyon, the knee that had fallen between her thighs while she lay on her back during lunch, the lips and hands that had traced over every inch of her skin not covered by the skimpy brown shorts and white tank top she wore. The idea of leaving in two days, of letting go of this man who was so overwhelming to her and making her question everything she had been so focused on, made her heart hurt. She stood, grabbing her plate as he turned and pulled a stacked, unfrosted cake out of the fridge. She placed her plate in the sink and turned to rest against the counter, his hands pulling out two more bowls and setting them next to the cake.

"What's that for?"

"You mentioned wishing you could do some of the frosting work I do. So... we're going to decorate your cake together."

One of her eyebrows went up as she watched the muscles in his arms tense, the spatula swirling through the creamy white icing as he stirred it. She was not an artistic person, not in the least, but if decorating this cake meant she got to watch his arms and hands as he worked, she'd do this all night. He grabbed a long, flat metal spatula-knife looking tool and handed it to her.

"You use this like you would a regular spatula, but since it’s long and flat, it makes it easier to get a smooth surface. Come here, grab some icing and give it a try."

She took a step forward, using the flat spatula to scoop some of the frosting out of the bowl. Her hand hovered over the cake, unsure how to begin before she felt Peeta step up behind her, his chest coming to press against her back, his arms wrapping around her, his hands ghosting over hers to guide them. He moved her hand with the spatula to slather the icing onto the side of the cake, guiding her hands to turn the cake stand while the spatula smoothed the icing. Even after she got the gist of the movements, his body still stayed pressed to hers but his hands moved back, his fingers trailing up her arms, over the curve of her shoulders, and down the slope of her back to rest on her hips. Her head tilted to the side to watch the icing smooth under the metal when his lips pressed against the curve of her shoulder into her neck, the rough stubble on his chin and jaw sending shivers down her arms and back. 

“You know, that’s awfully distracting. I might make a mistake.”

She felt him grin against her skin as his lips trailed up her neck, his teeth catching the lobe of her ear softly before whispering, “You distract me, figured I’d repay you for it.”

His lips and teeth bit softly at her ear again and the spatula fell to the counter, her head tilting back to rest on his shoulder as his lips and tongue traced the line of her neck before a hand came up, turning her head so their lips could meet. Her mouth opened to him and their tongues slid and tasted, his hands falling down to cup her breasts, his thumbs catching her pebbled nipples and pinching, causing her to moan into the kiss. She pressed back against him and felt his hardness against her ass a second before his hands left her breasts, his lips pulling away to turn her around before pressing her into the counter, his lips attacking hers as their hips rolled against each other, his cock pressing against her belly. Not at all where she wanted him right now. 

“Lift me up.”

He didn’t even break his stride, his fingers grasping under her thighs and lifting her onto the counter. The cake got pushed aside, toppling to the granite off the stand it was on as his hands skirted under her tank top, pushing it up and pulling it over her head to land on the floor. Her hands sank into his hair from his shoulders, their lips, teeth and tongues fighting for control. She reached down and tugged at the neck of his shirt, his hands falling away from her to drag it over his head before his mouth landed on her collarbone, licking and kissing his way down to the white lace of her bra. He didn’t ask permission before his fingers were unhooking the clasp, pulling the scrap of fabric away, and his tongue laved a hardened nipple before pulling it into his mouth.

“Oh, my God...Peeta...”

His mouth left one nipple to give the other the same treatment, his tongue and teeth pulling curses and moans from her throat as she ground herself into him, desperately trying to line up her aching clit with his cock. His hands twisted into her loose hair, tugging gently as his mouth moved back up her chest and along her neck, his breath causing goose bumps on the damp skin.

“I know you’re leaving and that you can’t stay, but... please let me have you.”

The breath in her lungs came out in a soft sigh, tears stinging her eyes. She was in so much trouble and she had no idea how to fix this. But, she did know she couldn’t say no to him, didn’t want to say no. So she framed his face with her hands, tilting it up until she could look into his eyes, dark from lust and lack of light, and lowered her mouth to his, pressing their lips together softly, much slower than their previous kisses. He didn’t move beyond returning her kisses, so she reached between them and unbuttoned her shorts, pulling the zipper down. His head pulled back and then the desire kicked in again, his fingers curling over the waistband of her shorts and panties and helping her pull them down, dropping them to the floor with their shirts. His hand slid past her knee and along her inner thigh, pushing her legs open before his fingers skimmed along the wetness at her center. His head dipped back on a groan as his fingers brushed circles over her clit before slipping down and into her in one motion, her muscles fluttering around him as he set a steady rhythm, his thumb working magic on her clitoris.

Before long she was gasping his name as her orgasm washed over her, his fingers still pumping into her as she came down, her feet curled against his sides. In a haze, she felt him reach down to unfasten his shorts and push them and his boxer briefs down, reaching into the pocket to pull out his wallet and thumbing through it until he grabs the small white square inside. He tears it open and glances at her confused expression.

“Annie snuck it to me last night. I haven’t been with anyone since I moved here.”

He fumbled at trying to roll on the condom, looking almost embarrassed at his admission when she stilled his hands with her own, his eyes meeting hers as she helped him get the condom on.

“I haven’t been with anyone in two years. He’s been the only one.”

He gave her a soft smile and nodded before claiming her lips again, his hands pulling her hips to the edge of the counter. She was holding on to his shoulders, their mouths pressing and parting together as she felt his cock press against her folds and then into her, slowly, until they were completely joined. He rested his head on her shoulder, taking a few deep breaths before he pulled out and then thrust deeply into her again, making them both moan. He tried to take it slow, she could tell he wanted to, but there was too much of everything for that. Her legs wrapped around his waist, his hands tightened in her hair and toying with her nipples, his mouth biting and sucking on her collarbones and neck. It was all so much that soon she was digging her nails into his shoulders, his mouth open against her shoulder, his teeth pressing into her skin as they came together and fell apart.

-/-/-/-/-

Instead of staying at the house on Monday, she went with him to the garage. The shipment truck arrived around eleven and Radiator kept her company while Peeta worked on her car. They’d spent most of the night lost in each other, sleeping for thirty or forty minutes at a time before waking to have each other again. Her thoughts were torn between how right Peeta felt to her, while at the same time thinking of how amazing this job opportunity was. All of her stuff was in Tucson, her name was on a six month lease and there was a job that paid remarkably well. But in this instant... she had no idea how she was going to be able to say goodbye to Peeta She was half-tempted to ask him to come with her even though she knew he never would. She knew this was what he wanted, his life here. Radiator bumped his nose against her thigh and she gave him a smile before he laid on her feet. Could she give up everything to stay here? Turn her back on years of school, tens of thousands of dollars and a promising career? It wasn’t until Peeta touched her cheek that she realized she’d zoned out, not even hearing him call her name.

“Your car is done, Katniss. It didn’t take me long.”

She glanced up at the clock on the wall. 2:34. “Oh, I didn’t think it would be that fast.”

“If you...if you wanted, you could probably leave soon and be to Tucson before it got real late. See Prim before she has to leave at least.”

He was right of course. Prim had to leave early Tuesday to get back to her classes and internship. She barely had time off as it was, and they hadn’t seen much of each other the last few years with both of them trying to get through school. She should leave so she could see her sister.

“Yeah...I’ll go back and grab my bags.”

It took her a half hour before she was back at the garage, sliding her larger bag into the trunk and tossing her purse and laptop bag in the passenger seat. She pushed the door closed and turned to look at Peeta, running the rag over his hands while Radiator sat between them, his head bobbing back and forth. She didn’t want to leave. It scared her how much she wanted to call up Mr. Abernathy and give up her job, have all her things packed back up and shipped here and stay with Peeta, someone she only met a few days ago. It was that that made her reason that she couldn’t just give everything up, that she had to go to Tucson, see her sister and get ready for the next chapter of her life.

“Will you call me when you get there? So I know you made it?”

She nodded. “It’ll be late, probably after midnight.”

“That’s fine, I’ll probably be up anyways.”

He’d always been asleep by eleven since she’d been there. She ran her nails over the lines of her palm in a nervous habit. She watched him shove the rag into his back pocket before meeting her eyes. The look on his face, sadness and something else she couldn’t understand, pulled her forward until her arms were wrapped around his neck and their lips were pressing together in slow, soft kisses meant to memorize each other’s taste and texture, meant to say goodbye. Their foreheads rested against each other and she breathed in his smell, spicy aftershave mixed with the baking he did this morning and the oil and grease from the garage; so unique to him that she knew she’d never find another with the same scent. The idea of not having him with her every day broke her heart.

He pulled away from her and touched her braid quickly, his fingers tracing the weaving hair before dropping his hand. “You should get going.”

“Yeah...I’ll...I’ll talk to you soon?”

“Of course.”

She turned quickly and slid into her car, slamming the door and starting the engine. She backed the car out of the garage bay and put it in drive before glancing back over at him. He raised his hand and gave her a small wave, her hand raising briefly before she felt the burn of tears at the back of her eyes, focusing her vision forward and heading out of Mercy.

-/-/-/-/-

It had been a month and a half since she left Mercy. Six weeks. Forty-five days. She had thought the first week was the hardest, but each week, even though she and Peeta talked over emails and phone calls, she missed him more. That first night, when she’d called to tell him she made it home, his whispered “I already miss you” almost broke her. Since then, every single email and phone call had ended with a simple, “I miss you.”

Today, she was in her car again, heading back to a tiny town that wasn’t on any map. She was one day into her unemployment since she had given notice and quit her job yesterday. She was sure Haymitch thought she was an idiot for passing over the opportunity that any new vet would have jumped at, but she didn’t care anymore. After more than a few phone calls with her mother and Prim, she’d decided that she didn’t want the fast-paced, non-stop life in the city full of money and awards. She wanted quiet, fulfilling work in the middle of nowhere. She wanted a faithful dog that was named after part of a car and that followed her around. She wanted a man who was so many facets of interesting and loving. She wanted stars.

She passed the turnoff the first time and had to turn around to exit off the deserted highway, glancing at the time before heading straight to his house. She turned off the car and took a deep breath, getting out and pushing the door shut. She could see lights on the first floor and movement in the kitchen. She climbed the few steps and knocked, stepping back and waiting as the sound of Radiator’s nails clinking against wood grew closer, stopping as he rounded the corner and saw her, barking and jumping against the screen door. The smile on her face grew wider as Peeta came into view, clad in a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt, his hair still slightly damp. His eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open slightly as he took her in, her hair loose around her shoulders and a soft orange sundress moving with the breeze around her thighs.

“You’re here.”

“Yeah, I heard you make a really fantastic meal and have this huge house all to yourself, which comes in handy given my situation.”

Confusion raced across his face as he opened the door, letting her come into the house, Radiator nuzzling her hands and legs, eager to see his friend again.

“What, uh, what would your situation be exactly?”

She scratched the top of the dog’s head again before standing, meeting Peeta’s eyes and stepping forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders. 

“It seems that I’ve found myself both homeless and unemployed.” At his shocked face, she added, “Willingly.”

“You... left Tucson. To come here?”

She nodded. “To come back to you. Mercy has to need a vet, right?”

She felt his breath hitch and then she was pulled tight against him, his lips connecting with hers, their tongues sliding together and getting reacquainted. Radiator pranced at their feet, bumping his nose into their legs. His jump up against their elbows shoved them off-balance, Peeta catching her before they fell. They laughed and petted the dog, Peeta’s eyes never leaving her face.

“I wanted you to come back so badly. You have no idea.”

She smiles at him, raising a hand to cup the side of his face.

“I think I do.”


End file.
